The present invention generally relates to electronic apparatuses and disk unit mounting mechanisms, and more particularly to an electronic apparatus and a disk unit mounting mechanism having a shock-resistant mounting structure of a disk unit such as a hard disk drive (HDD) in a portable electronic apparatus such as a notebook type personal computer.
In this specification, the disk unit refers to a magnetic disk unit, an optical disk unit, a magneto-optic disk unit, a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive (FDD), a CD-ROM drive and the like which record and/or reproduce information on and/or reproduce information from a disk-shaped recording medium.
Recently, the performance of the notebook type personal computer has improved, and it is becoming popular to mount in the notebook type personal computer a hard disk drive which has a large storage capacity and a high operation speed compared to a floppy disk drive.
A description will be given of a hard disk drive mounting structure of a conventional notebook type personal computer, by referring to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a disassembled perspective view of a notebook type personal computer 50 mounted with a hard disk drive. In FIG. 1, a hard disk drive (HDD) 52 is mounted in a HDD accommodating part provided on a back side of a front right of a housing 51 of the notebook type personal computer 50.
In this case, the HDD 52 accommodates a disk-shaped storage media, a head, a motor and the like. The HDD 52 is fixed on an HDD mounting metal fitting 53 by a screw 54 so that a printed circuit side of the HDD 52 faces a HDD cover 57. The metal fitting 53 is fixed on the housing 51 by a screw 55.
In addition, a flexible printed circuit (FPC) cable 56 mounted on the housing 51 is arranged so as to electrically connect to the printed circuit of the HDD 52. Thereafter, the HDD cover 57 slides to cover the HDD accommodating part of the housing 51, and the HDD cover 57 is fixed to the housing 51 by screws 58. No shock absorbing material or the like is used.
In the case of a magnetic disk drive mounted in a lap-top computer or the like, it has been proposed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.3-241583, for example, to provide a plurality of vibration-preventing rubber pieces between a housing and a side surface of the magnetic disk drive, so as to prevent a positioning error from being generated due to vibration of a magnetic head. It has also been proposed to use a combination of a plurality of vibration-preventing rubber pieces having damping characteristics with different temperature dependencies, so as to cope with a wide a range of temperature changes. In addition, its has also been proposed to use Sorbothane (trademark) which is made of an ether system polyurethane as the vibration-preventing rubber.
In addition, in the case of a fixed magnetic disk drive used in a large scale computer, it has been proposed in a Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Application no.59-135504, for example to make the magnetic disk drive portable by accommodating the magnetic disk drive in an external box. It has been vaguely proposed to provide a plurality of shock absorbers such as shock absorbing rubber pieces between the external box and inner top, bottom and side surfaces of a main body of the magnetic disk drive, so as to greatly relax restricting conditions with respect to the vibration and shock.
However, in the notebook type personal computer mounted with the HDD described above, the HDD itself is becoming smaller and lighter due to the increased recording density of the HDD. Particularly when the HDD is light in weight there are increased opportunities for the HDD to be carried. On the other hand, the mechanical strength of the HDD deteriorates as the HDD becomes smaller. As a result, a shock applied on the HDD while the HDD is carried or during operation of the HDD may generate a fault.
For example, because the conventional HDD is fixed to the housing of the notebook type personal computer by screws, the magnetic head makes contact with the disk-shaped storage media when a shock is applied on the HDD which is carried or during operation of the HDD. The disk-shaped media is damaged when the magnetic head makes contact with the disk-shaped storage media, and this damage causes data destruction thereby generating a fault.
On the other hand, if a floating structure is used for the HDD, it becomes impossible to accurately set a head position due to residual vibration accompanying the rotation of the disk-shaped storage media when making a seek operation to make the magnetic head seek a recording region during operation. In this case, a read error is generated.
Further, in the case of the lap-top computer or the like, the vibration preventing rubber is provided on the side surface of the magnetic disk drive in order to make the magnetic disk drive vibration proof. However, no special considerations are made with respect to the shock, particularly the shock applied on the magnetic disk drive when the computer is carried. For this reason, the vibration preventing rubber does not provide a solution to the problems introduced when the magnetic disk drive is carried.
Moreover, the portable fixed magnetic disk drive described above is not intended for the general user, and the fixed magnetic disk drive is considerably large compared to the HDD mounted in the notebook type personal computer. For this reason, there are no strict demands to reduce the size and weight of the fixed magnetic disk drive, and various kinds of measures may be taken against the vibration and shock applied on the fixed magnetic disk drive. However, such measures which may be taken in the fixed magnetic disk drive do not suggest particular measures which may be taken with respect to the notebook type personal computer which is used by the general user and in which restricting conditions exist to reduce the size and weight of the HDD.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a novel and useful electronic apparatus and a disk unit mounting mechanism, in which the problems described above are eliminated.
Another and more specific object of the present invention is to eliminate the problem of data destruction caused by the shock applied on the disk unit such as the HDD, and to provide a disk unit mounting structure having improved reliability.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic apparatus mounted with a hard disk drive, wherein vibration and/or shock absorbing members which absorb vibration and/or shock are provided between the hard disk drive and a lid member which covers a hard disk drive accommodating part provided in a housing of the electronic apparatus. According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the vibration resistance and the shock resistance because the hard disk drive is protected by small pieces of the vibration and/or shock absorbing members. As a result, it is possible to prevent data destruction from being generated in the hard disk drive due to the shock and to prevent a read error from being generated in the hard disk drive due to the vibration. Accordingly, the reliability of the portable electronic apparatus such as the notebook type personal computer is greatly improved.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an electronic apparatus mounted with a hard disk drive, comprising vibration and/or shock absorbing members which are formed by a plurality of small pieces and absorb vibration and/or shock are provided between the hard disk drive and a hard disk drive accommodating part provided in a housing of the electronic apparatus, and a sheet member is provided between the hard disk drive and the plurality of small pieces forming the vibration and/or shock absorbing members. According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the vibration resistance and the shock resistance because the hard disk drive is protected by small pieces of the vibration and/or shock absorbing members. As a result, it is possible to prevent data destruction from being generated in the hard disk drive due to the shock and to prevent a read error from being generated in the hard disk drive due to the vibration. Accordingly, the reliability of the portable electronic apparatus such as the notebook type personal computer is greatly improved. Further, it is possible to prevent direct contact with the vibration and/or shock absorbing members and the hard disk drive, so that the vibration and/or shock absorbing members will not be deformed at the time of the assembling process and moisture absorbed by the vibration and/or shock absorbing members will not cause an electrical short-circuit even if the vibration and/or shock absorbing members are provided on a side of the hard disk drive having exposed wirings and/or electrical circuits.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic apparatus mounted with a hard disk drive, wherein vibration and/or shock absorbing members are provided between the hard disk drive and an inner bottom surface and inner side surfaces of a hard disk drive accommodating part provided in a housing of the electronic apparatus, and the vibration and/or shock absorbing members provided between the hard disk drive and the inner bottom surface and the vibration and/or shock absorbing members provided between the hard disk drive and the inner surface are made of mutually different materials. According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the vibration resistance and the shock resistance because the hard disk drive is protected by small pieces of the vibration and/or shock absorbing members. As a result, it is possible to prevent data destruction from being generated in the hard disk drive due to the shock and to prevent a read error from being generated in the hard disk drive due to the vibration. Accordingly, the reliability of the portable electronic apparatus such as the notebook type personal computer is greatly improved.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic apparatus mounted with a hard disk drive, wherein a plurality of vibration and/or shock absorbing members made of different materials and having different thicknesses are provided with respect to at least one of confronting surfaces of the hard disk drive and a hard disk drive accommodating part provided in a housing of the electronic apparatus. According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the vibration resistance and the shock resistance because the hard disk drive is protected by small pieces of the vibration and/or shock absorbing members. As a result, it is possible to prevent data destruction from being generated in the hard disk drive due to the shock and to prevent a read error from being generated in the hard disk drive due to the vibration. Accordingly, the reliability of the portable electronic apparatus such as the notebook type personal computer is greatly improved.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a disk unit mounting mechanism mountable with a disk unit characterized by a disk unit accommodating part accommodating the disk unit which is mounted, a lid member covering the disk unit accommodating part, and a vibration and/or shock absorbing member which absorbs vibration and/or shock and is arranged between the lid member and the disk unit which is mounted. By providing the vibration and/or shock absorbing members between the disk unit which is mounted and the lid member which covers the disk unit accommodating part provided in the housing, it is possible to improve the shock-resistance of the disk unit. Hence, it is possible to prevent data destruction from being generated in the disk unit, such as the HDD, due to the shock when the disk unit is dropped or is placed on a desk.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a disk unit mounting mechanism mountable with a disk unit having a disk unit accommodating part accommodating the disk unit which is mounted, a lid member covering the disk unit accommodating part, and a vibration and/or shock absorbing member, formed by a plurality of small pieces and absorbs vibration and/or shock, arranged between the lid member and the disk unit which is mounted, and a sheet member arranged between the plurality of small pieces forming the vibration and/or shock absorbing member and the disk unit which is mounted. By mounting the vibration and/or shock absorbing members on the sheet material, it is possible to prevent the deformation of the vibration and/or shock absorbing members. As a result, the shock resistance of the disk unit is improved, and in addition, it is possible to prevent an electrical short-circuit even when drop of dew form on the vibration and/or shock absorbing members.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a disk unit mounting mechanism mountable with a disk unit characterized by a disk unit accommodating part accommodating the disk unit which is mounted, and vibration and/or shock absorbing members arranged between an inner bottom surface and an inner side surface of the disk unit accommodating part and the disk unit which is mounted, wherein the vibration and/or shock absorbing member 3 arranged between the disk unit which is mounted and the inner bottom surface and the vibration and/or shock absorbing member arranged between the disk unit which is mounted and the inner side surface are made of mutually different materials. By providing the vibration and/or shock absorbing members between the disk unit and the inner surface of the disk unit accommodating part provided in the housing, it is possible to improve the vibration resistance of the disk unit, thereby preventing a read error from being generated. Further, in this case, the vibration resistance is required of the vibration and/or shock absorbing members provided between the disk unit and the inner surface of the disk unit accommodating part provided in the housing, while shock resistance is required of the vibration and/or shock absorbing members 3 provided between the disk unit and the inner bottom surface of the disk unit accommodating part. Hence, it is desirable that the vibration and/or shock absorbing members are made of mutually different materials.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a disk unit mounting mechanism mountable with a disk unit characterized by a disk unit accommodating part accommodating the disk unit which is mounted, and vibration and/or shock absorbing members arranged between an inner bottom surface and an inner side surface of the disk unit accommodating part and the disk unit which is mounted, wherein the vibration and/or shock absorbing members arranged between the disk unit and the inner bottom surface and the vibration and/or shock absorbing member arranged between the disk unit and the inner side surface are made of materials having mutually different vibration and/or shock absorbing characteristics. By providing vibration and/or shock absorbing members having different vibration and/or shock absorbing characteristics, it is possible to effectively cope with shocks ranging from weak to strong shocks, and the vibration resistance and the shock resistance of the disk unit are improved.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a disk unit mounting mechanism mountable with a disk unit having a disk unit accommodating part accommodating the disk unit which is mounted, and a plurality of vibration and/or shock absorbing members having different thicknesses arranged with respect to at least one of confronting surfaces of the disk unit which is mounted and the disk unit accommodating part. By providing the vibration and/or shock absorbing members having the different thicknesses with respect to at least one surface of the disk unit, particularly with respect to a lid member, it is possible to use both a thin material and a thick material, for example, so that the shock resistance is improved with respect to various kinds of shocks ranging from weak to strong shocks.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a disk unit mounting mechanism mountable with a disk unit having a disk unit accommodating part accommodating the disk unit which is mounted, and a plurality of vibration and/or shock absorbing members having different vibration and/or shock absorbing characteristics arranged with respect to at least one of confronting surfaces of the disk unit which is mounted and the disk unit accommodating part. By providing the vibration and/or shock absorbing members with respect to at least one surface of the disk unit, particularly with respect to the side of a lid member, and forming the vibration and/or shock absorbing members from materials having different vibration and/or shock absorbing characteristics, it is possible to realize a shock resistance which can cope with a wide range of shocks ranging from weak to strong shocks.
Other objects and further features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.